cactus.

Reversal of Fortune is the first one you're thinking of. I remember watching that and as the dude explains why he's homeless, "It's kinda nice out here, I don't have nobody telling me what to do, I'm my own boss, yada yada yada," and I was like dude, you liver under a f*cking bridge. Taking orders from people ain't the worst thing in the world at this point..but hey, people can live their life however the hell they want, apparently!

Robinski

Caught Exit Through the Gift Shop earlier tonight. It was pretty interesting, if not exactly what I was expecting. I'd heard that it was a documentary about Banksy that had been turned on the film-maker himself, but I didn't expect it to do that to such a degree. Look at how it's actually pitched now I realise that it's a film by Banksy, and not about him. Regardless, it was still quite entertaining.

The film made me turn around my image of Banksy himself a bit. When I first discovered the guy years ago, like so many mid-teenagers, I thought he was amazing and had a really powerful message blah, blah, blah pretentious wank. I'd later moved on to getting past that and thinking he was a bit of a sell out to street art and that he himself was a bit pretentious. Anyway, he actually comes across as quite down to earth and relaxed guy who just likes to be creative, so I'm closer to my original thoughts on the guy now. The calmness and laidback approach comes across even through the distorted sounds of his Bristolian accent.

The overarching message of the film is pretty blatant towards the end. It explores the nature of exactly what art is and what it is to be an artist. The way that Thierry manages to come up straight out of nowhere and sell so much art so quickly is telling about the state of art in the modern world: it doesn't necessarily matter if the art is any good. It simply matters if people are told the art is good, they will buy it. The real creativity here was the marketing; there was so much hype, what with the quotes from established artists, that the art was going to sell irregardless of what it actually was because it was "hot" and the "next big thing". You can tell by the way the other artists like Bansky and Shepard Fairey not-so-subtly regret giving him the press that they don't think he was a proper artist, at least not in the way they were. Some of the stuff came together just perfectly sometimes. Almost makes you wonder if it was all real...

All in all, pretty interesting, but I still would have preferred a doc about Banksy himself. The insight you do get from ETtGS is quite cool though, and all the little glimpses of different artists' pieces throughout the whole thing was cool too. Also, I'm not sure if they were present in the normal film, but the ad parodies that appeared with the Channel 4 airing were pretty funny.

Glad you like it and good post. I really enjoyed it but my girlfriend and thought it was a hoax - a really clever trick played by Banksy. I seen it was on T.V. last night and I was going to watch it again to see if I could tell any better but I fell asleep

Slamman

Still the all time best Mockumentary is This is Spinal Tap, and for fans of the film, The live Q and A that they've done on recent tours suggests that Chris is writing material for another film, but if he's serious or not is the big question, It's like Indy Jones... These guys ain't gettin' any younger! haha

Still the all time best Mockumentary is This is Spinal Tap, and for fans of the film, The live Q and A that they've done on recent tours suggests that Chris is writing material for another film, but if he's serious or not is the big question, It's like Indy Jones... These guys ain't gettin' any younger! haha

This topic is about documentaries. Now, what if anything does This Is Spinal Tap have to do with documentaries?

JoeyLeone25

Caught Exit Through the Gift Shop earlier tonight. It was pretty interesting, if not exactly what I was expecting. I'd heard that it was a documentary about Banksy that had been turned on the film-maker himself, but I didn't expect it to do that to such a degree. Look at how it's actually pitched now I realise that it's a film by Banksy, and not about him. Regardless, it was still quite entertaining.

Glad you enjoyed it, being honest, Exit was probably my favourite film of 2010. After Exit and Antics Roadshow on Saturday there was another documentary called Starsuckers which explored the modern phenomenon that is 'celebrity culture'. It is well worth a watch on 4oD, as it shows not only how easy it is to manipulate the media, but also how desperate the average citizen is in becoming famous.

ska

Been watching a lot of Michael Moore films lately, and they're all really awesome. He mostly deals with political subjects, such as corporate corruption, but it's stuff that's actually entertaining and thought-provoking. I recommend Capitalism: A Love Story, Bowling For Columbine, and The Big One.

I've been very into modern political documentaries recently; anybody know any other good films that deal with that kind of subject matter?

Slamman

A literal TON of the Bowling for Columbine showed up at the Goodwill, what accounts for that, I wonder?? I mean TONS of DVD copies!

I've known about him since the GM documentary about Michigan workers and their plight. Roger and Me. That came out in a day when you could find both Beta and VHS in the rental shops here! Takes you back some

trip

My wife just ordered a ton of stuff from the Richard Dawkins site, with this being one of them. I wouldn't really call it a documentary. It is just 4 guys drinking around a table discussing various philosophies and thoughts on religion. I watched it for the first time yesterday.

QUOTE

All four authors have recently received a large amount of media attention for their writings against religion - some positive, and some negative. In this conversation the group trades stories of the public's reaction to their recent books, their unexpected successes, criticisms and common misrepresentations. They discuss the tough questions about religion that face the world today, and propose new strategies for going forward.

A good 2 hours of thought provoking discussions and questions for any open minded person.

cactus.

I've been very into modern political documentaries recently; anybody know any other good films that deal with that kind of subject matter?

Hot Coffee, no not that hot coffee, is a very well made documentary that sheds a bright light on tort reform and other bullsh*t like mandatory arbitration. To tell its story, it documents the cases of several people who have tried to take corporations to court, including the now famous McDonald's hot coffee lady.

Lithium

I thought this documentary was really well done and it showed how Lemmy Kilmister really got started in the music industry. I've only ever heard a few Motorhead songs over the years, but since watching this I've been looking for some other songs to listen to. He has a very unique raspy voice and a different playing style

Slamman

About F***ING time I'd say, Lemmy is the Godfather of Heavy, man, get with the program! Hawkwind! Jimi Hendrix, who he roadied for

I watched SUPER SIZE ME the other night on Hulu streaming on the console services... I think this reminded me VERY much of Jamie Oliver's School lunch TV Food Revolution, very much the same, I think if you are gonna eat Fast Food and do so often, you should go to all various "Fast Food" joints, not just McDonalds. For one thing, I wouldn't eat everything they serve there, just because I like fast food or quick meals, or junk food. I just wouldn't.

I'd like to hear opinions about Super Size Me. After that film, it's noted the Super Size was dropped, and of course, claimed changes not because of the documentary! One thing that's never mentioned is that each person is different in their metabolism and that's not really mentioned in the documentary. At least it seems like the movie maker is not opposed to eating such foods and perhaps would be biased against it, like his girl-friend, who is Vegan! Yikes....that would not work for me, good luck there! haha

This is a very inspiring documentary.You don't need to be a fan to enjoy it, but it's not a documentary really for fans. It's not the theme. It's all really about being self concious of your art, identity crisis, inspiration and perseverance. It's mad how critical of themselves they were in the 80's and how lost they where and hadn't a breeze where to go next.

It's easy to think that stadium bands are immune to that sort of thing so it's kind of inspirational to know they even the infallible successful artists of our time succumb to writers block and self consciousness.

There is one or two things in their for fans, like them listening to (I don't know how else to put it) first draft recordings of songs. Other than that getting, inspiration from the likes of Berlin and Kraftwerk and trying to make a new identity for themselves etc.

Same director of An Inconvenient Truth and It Might Get Loud

I highly recommend this documentary to musicians, artists and all sorts of creative people. It's very inspiring. I also recommend it to curious people, if anyone has wondered wanted a nice, harrowing insight to the inner workings of a big rock band or just anyone who has heard the album.

Slamman

I saw this week, interview with the Osbournes shed some light on a new doc GOD BLESS OZZY OSBOURNE, and it's directed by Jack Osbourne, I still don't know all about it, but I shall keep an eye and ear out!

tubbs51

I watched a documentary earlier today called "Sonicsgate". Its about the literal theft of Seattle's Pro basketball team and the inside factors around it from the fan's perspective. A must watch for any one really. Best of all the damn thing is 100% free.

JoeyLeone25

I watched Hardcore again the other night after stumbling upon it on a television channel at around three in the morning the other night. Hardcore follows a young British mother named 'Felicity' as she attempts to break into the hardcore pornography market in the United States with her 'agent' (also known as 'pimp'). It is worth watching for documentary enthusiasts, because, despite being a decent character profile of a woman, a mother, on the edge of despair, it also brings to the forefront of the genre the issues which have always plagued these films (authenticity, manipulation, etc).

Cocobrown1386

Lake Of Fire is a good documentary. It's about the two conflicting sides on the topic of abortion. If you have a weak stomach you may want to turn your head during the procedure scenes. It's pretty graphic.

trip

I watched 'For the Bible Tells Me So' over the past weekend. Available on Netflix view now if anyone cares.

Actually, it didn't piss me off as much as I had expected.

The primary focus is on Christianity and its views on homosexuality. There were some surprising moments of ultra religious people changing their view on homosexuality after having a child(of their own) come out to them.

Slamman

I'm Christian and I'm heterosexual, I believe it's bothersome, but I don't judge people, and most Christians I know wouldn't raise a stink other then being personally opposed to Homosexuality. People are people, after all, I believe as much as someone expects respect as a human being, I deserve the same, it's a mutual thing

I was looking over TruTV's online site for the more odd crime backgrounds, it's just a curiousity in motivation for these people, public suicide was also noted, and it's a taboo kind of thing, everyone remember Budd Dwyer's suicide on TV?

Antinark

I love Netflix solely for it's great indie-doc content which I consume at a feverish pace.

I recently just finished watching Dark Days, a look into the crack addicts and homeless men and women who live underground in NYC's subway tunnels. It was beautifully captured in high contrast black and white (16mm i believe) and had a sort of fly on the wall perspective (it let the characters direct the narrative).

Other recent favorites:

The Devil in Daniel Johnston: A bio doc on the infamously bipolar Austin, TX songwriting legendLake of Fire: A contentious look into the contemporary abortion debate in the U.S. directed by the genius who brought us American History X. Extremely graphic, not for the weak of heart.Into The Abyss: Werner Herzog brings us face to face with a man on death row in his latest documentary. I saw the great man speak at TIFF last fall and apparently he shot at a 2:1 editing ration, which is unheard of in doc!Exit Through the Giftshop: Inside Job was good, but this deserved the oscar hands down. One of the most cleverly crafted and witty stories I've ever seen in doc. American Film: A hilarious behind the scenes documentary about a small-town guy trying to make a short film with only the help of his cluelessly incompetent friends and family and the financing of his senile uncle.

Paradise Lost was very harrowing and very enjoyable. It's funny I just watched that right before the last bit of news was made about them. Not giving too much away... I want people to watch it themselves.

I was supposed to watch this when it came out but I didn't see a release here. It's about the original Dub creator, Bob Marley producer, mad man, genius....Lee 'Scratch' Perry..

Sanjeem

I recently watched a documentary, a short one on the Nazi's and the occult conspiracy. I still don't really know what it is, I'm about to watch a bigger one now but how credible do you think this theory is? The Nazi's having contact with Alien beings? It's something out of like Indiana Jones if you ask me, apparently they built new aircraft technology, that looked like flying saucers and sh*t...Allegedly they might have done this. What's your view, it is quite mind blowing and interesting...